False Dmitry III (; died July 1612), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius III, was the last and most enigmatic of three pretenders to the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n throne who claimed to be the youngest son of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

; Tsarevich

Dmitry Dmitry (); Church Slavic form: Dimitry or Dimitri (); ancient Russian forms: D'mitriy or Dmitr ( or ) is a male given name common in Orthodox Christian culture, the Russian version of Demetrios (, ). The meaning of the name is "devoted to, de ...

Biography

Supposed to have been a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

called Sidorka, he appeared suddenly, from behind the river

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

, in the

Ingria Ingria (; ; ; ) is a historical region including, and adjacent to, what is now the city of Saint Petersburg in northwestern Russia. The region lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian ...

n town of Ivangorod, proclaiming himself the Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, on March 28, 1611. The

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

, ravaging the environs of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, acknowledged him as

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

on March 2, 1612, and under threat of vengeance in case of non-compliance, the gentry of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

also "kissed the cross" (i.e., swore allegiance) to the ''rebel/criminal of Pskov'' (псковский вор), as he was usually nicknamed. On May 18, 1612, he fled from Pskov, was seized and delivered up to the authorities at Moscow, and was secretly executed there.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dmitry III, False False Dmitrys Executed Russian people 1612 deaths Year of birth unknown 17th-century executions by Russia People from the Tsardom of Russia Impostors 1580s births

Biography

See also

Notes

References